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Las Vegas go hard or go home thread


bigup2dahorns

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What is the nicest hotel in Vegas?

The hotel where the amenities and service just outpace all the rest?

if there is a grouping of hotels at the top, which has a pool where I can enjoy a mild scene - not a jersey shore reunion?

 

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13 minutes ago, CoTex said:

What is the nicest hotel in Vegas?

The hotel where the amenities and service just outpace all the rest?

if there is a grouping of hotels at the top, which has a pool where I can enjoy a mild scene - not a jersey shore reunion?

 

we've been staying at the Four Seasons at the Mandalay Bay the last few times... it's not the nicest Four Seasons but it's quiet and their staff is great etc. ...the entrance is completely separate from the Mandalay Bay so you don't deal with any of that madhouse at all,  their pool is small and quiet ...Kobe Bryant was at the pool last time and nobody bothered him ...it's the most peaceful place I've stayed in LV by far 

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31 minutes ago, michaelpshayes said:

we've been staying at the Four Seasons at the Mandalay Bay the last few times... it's not the nicest Four Seasons but it's quiet and their staff is great etc. ...the entrance is completely separate from the Mandalay Bay so you don't deal with any of that madhouse at all,  their pool is small and quiet ...Kobe Bryant was at the pool last time and nobody bothered him ...it's the most peaceful place I've stayed in LV by far 

Man, I’m happy to hear it.  I’ve stayed at a few 4S and never had a bad anything.  Even Houston - which I think is not the greatest, is good enough for me.

 

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What is the nicest hotel in Vegas?
The hotel where the amenities and service just outpace all the rest?
if there is a grouping of hotels at the top, which has a pool where I can enjoy a mild scene - not a jersey shore reunion?
 
I'm a fan of the Waldorf. Have never been to the pool, though.
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U.S. casino operator Eldorado Resorts has agreed to merge with Caesars Entertainment in a cash and stock deal that values its peer at about $17.3 billion including debt.

The agreement comes three months after Reuters reported that Caesars had agreed to give Eldorado access to its books under pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who earlier this year was awarded seats on Caesars board.

The deal values Caesars at $12.75 a share. The combined company's ownership would be split roughly between Eldorado and Caesars shareholders.

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7 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

U.S. casino operator Eldorado Resorts has agreed to merge with Caesars Entertainment in a cash and stock deal that values its peer at about $17.3 billion including debt.

The agreement comes three months after Reuters reported that Caesars had agreed to give Eldorado access to its books under pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who earlier this year was awarded seats on Caesars board.

The deal values Caesars at $12.75 a share. The combined company's ownership would be split roughly between Eldorado and Caesars shareholders.

Can't figure if this is good or bad.  Eldorado currently has no properties in Vegas, one in Laughlin, three in Reno and one in Tahoe and a bunch of other casinos spread out across the country, none of which look too appealing.  

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1 hour ago, shakahorn said:

Can't figure if this is good or bad.  Eldorado currently has no properties in Vegas, one in Laughlin, three in Reno and one in Tahoe and a bunch of other casinos spread out across the country, none of which look too appealing.  

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-eldorado-resorts-buys-ceasars-las-vegas-20190624-story.html

Reeg, a former banker who’s now 47, joined the board of directors in 2007. With the demeanor of an accountant more than that of a casino boss, Reeg has built a reputation for cutting costs and boosting profits. He consolidated functions at resorts the company acquired and cut back on the promotions that often lead to vicious competition in small markets.

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To add to the point above, from the WSJ:

Part of Eldorado’s success is its management’s ability to slim down on unnecessary guest inducements such as free drinks and hotel stays. Caesars has done better recently in this regard, too, cutting its perks about in half to roughly 14% of revenue since 2016. But Eldorado is better: Its similar metric is around 10%.

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DoNotLike. I am frequently able to get free weekday rooms at the mid and low tier Caesars properties. Will be annoyed if that goes away.

 

I think you’ve had some luck with rooms at Treasure Island and the owner Phil Ruffin has said he will be looking to purchase one of the Strip properties from Caesars, so perhaps that might be a good development. We probably won’t hear anything until the end of the year or next year.

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PH is rumored to be for sale yes. As is the Rio but Ruffin said he doesn’t want the Rio. It’s possible he could buy any of the Strip properties other than Caesars Palace.

Hopefully just a little more competition will help roll back the parking fees and folding the resort fees into the room rates.

Cosmo is owned by private equity and also rumored for sale. Could be some decent ownership turnover coming up.

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2 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

PH is rumored to be for sale yes. As is the Rio but Ruffin said he doesn’t want the Rio. It’s possible he could buy any of the Strip properties other than Caesars Palace.

Hopefully just a little more competition will help roll back the parking fees and folding the resort fees into the room rates.

Cosmo is owned by private equity and also rumored for sale. Could be some decent ownership turnover coming up.

Cosmo is one of the best properties on the Strip right now, IMO.  They've done a great job with that second floor food area.  If it sells, it will be for a big number.

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24 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Cosmo is one of the best properties on the Strip right now, IMO.  They've done a great job with that second floor food area.  If it sells, it will be for a big number.

I'd say Caesars is out of it, so either MGM or Wynn are the favorites here.  Of course, Wynn was looking to sell their new Boston property to MGM earlier this year before it even opened (both sides backed out) so who knows.

 

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MGM is a logical buyer of Cosmo strictly based on location. But they have been cost cutting and laying off folks in Vegas lately in preparation to save cash for their bid to get a new casino in Japan (likely the Osaka area for them).

It could be another PE firm or a regional player looking for Vegas Strip exposure, maybe an Indian run outfit. Cosmo has been dressed up nicely over the last few years, especially at the top of the building with the new high end suites and private gaming area.

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Was there this past Th-Sun with my wife. We had the usual awesome time. Stayed at Bellagio because she wanted to, and I wanted to prove a point. She's now happy to go back to Aria. 

Went way the fuck up over the first 24 hours. Sky high level shit. Then got totally wiped out. Took out some money the last night before dinner. Ate and then decided to play with what we had on the craps tables at Bellagio. The table went fucking bonkers over the next 3 hours and we got back to what we came with, which wasn't trivial. Bizarrely, it was a lot of fun.

We ate at places we usually eat at, I guess, but it's her trip. Did Blossom on Thursday night because she'd never been. It was terrific as always. Went to Prime on Friday night. The last time I went there, it was with @SydneyCarton and 4 other guys. I invited a friend of mine that I'd met at work to join the guys that weekend in Vegas. He joined the crew and on Thursday, he'd been fine. On Friday, he apparently got incredibly shitfaced during the day and shows up at the dinner with the rest of us already seated. He could barely walk and had no business being in a nice steakhouse. He was also apparently a somewhat angry drunk.

We basically just went into containment mode, and no one more so than Sydney. It was like trying to eat at a steakhouse with a semi-tame pit bull seated at the table. This guy starts slapping Sydney around like Sydney is Fredo and this dude is Moe Green. Keep in mind, SC is like 6'4" and this little dude is like 5'6". Not only was that grim, but then I look up and see that Sydney, in his Neville Chamberlain impression, is attempting to appease this motherfucker by pouring him the last quarter bottle of Darioush that we'd ordered at like $300. It was one of the more bizarre dinners I've ever had. They moved everyone around us away. My closest friend took one too many drunken handslaps to the chest from midgetman and he did what SydneyCarton could not, which was snap the midget into some measure of sobriety and the understanding that he was about to be beaten into a body cast. My payback was to show everyone at work the group photo taken at the table, which I proudly displayed on my desk for the remaining two years I worked with the guy. He was worse than passed out in the photo. 

Wait. Where was I? Oh yeah. Prime. It's fine. I probably go to too many steakhouses (because of business dinners) and need to appreciate them better. When I go with my friends and Sydney in the fall, we're probably doing Bavette's again, which was awesome last fall. 

Went to Le Cirque on Saturday night. I'd be shocked if there's a better restaurant in Las Vegas. Shit that place is great. Had the tasting menu and the wine pairings and they got everything right. Get your money right going in there, though.

Did Giordano's for lunch one day because I don't know when I'll be in Chicago again and I love their pizza. It's every bit as good in LV. 

Planet Hollywood has repeater bets on their craps tables as the bonus. I fucking love that versus the AllSmall/AllTall stuff at MGM casinos, which is fine. If you haven't done that yet, and you're not a fucking accountant about how you play craps, you'll have a blast with it if the table gets hot.

 

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Was there this past Th-Sun with my wife. We had the usual awesome time. Stayed at Bellagio because she wanted to, and I wanted to prove a point. She's now happy to go back to Aria. 



I hear that. Bellagio is in big need of a refresh. They are closing the clubs and redoing them, finally. And the rest of the casino needs updating in spots. Then another issue is some of the long time surly employees. I tend to play some poker there because of location and I like the games offered. But Aria just feels a lot more current and the crowd is generally younger and more vibrant.

Sounds like you had a fun roller coaster ride on the tables.
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2 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 


I hear that. Bellagio is in big need of a refresh. They are closing the clubs and redoing them, finally. And the rest of the casino needs updating in spots. Then another issue is some of the long time surly employees. I tend to play some poker there because of location and I like the games offered. But Aria just feels a lot more current and the crowd is generally younger and more vibrant.

Sounds like you had a fun roller coaster ride on the tables.

 

Yeah, one of the things I don’t like about Bellagio is the height of their ceilings. It’s not nearly as open or spacious as the newer ones. I could be at any shitty casino and get the same vibe. 

She wanted to stay there because she thought it was “more exclusive”. I tried to walk her down the path that there is no “exclusive” between the nicer casinos unless you’re truly high rolling. There are guidos everywhere. But, she’s British. Fuck it. 

 

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Haha. The only stuff that is truly exclusive would be something like The Mansion at MGM. Basically invite only to stay there and separate high roller gaming area. Need a high credit line to get in the door. You can see their private pool from the MGM Grand pool area.

Bellagio has that cache for some people from the movie Oceans 11. It’s mostly worn off but I would expect the management to update the joint soon.

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11 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Was there this past Th-Sun with my wife. We had the usual awesome time. Stayed at Bellagio because she wanted to, and I wanted to prove a point. She's now happy to go back to Aria. 

Went way the fuck up over the first 24 hours. Sky high level shit. Then got totally wiped out. Took out some money the last night before dinner. Ate and then decided to play with what we had on the craps tables at Bellagio. The table went fucking bonkers over the next 3 hours and we got back to what we came with, which wasn't trivial. Bizarrely, it was a lot of fun.

We ate at places we usually eat at, I guess, but it's her trip. Did Blossom on Thursday night because she'd never been. It was terrific as always. Went to Prime on Friday night. The last time I went there, it was with @SydneyCarton and 4 other guys. I invited a friend of mine that I'd met at work to join the guys that weekend in Vegas. He joined the crew and on Thursday, he'd been fine. On Friday, he apparently got incredibly shitfaced during the day and shows up at the dinner with the rest of us already seated. He could barely walk and had no business being in a nice steakhouse. He was also apparently a somewhat angry drunk.

We basically just went into containment mode, and no one more so than Sydney. It was like trying to eat at a steakhouse with a semi-tame pit bull seated at the table. This guy starts slapping Sydney around like Sydney is Fredo and this dude is Moe Green. Keep in mind, SC is like 6'4" and this little dude is like 5'6". Not only was that grim, but then I look up and see that Sydney, in his Neville Chamberlain impression, is attempting to appease this motherfucker by pouring him the last quarter bottle of Darioush that we'd ordered at like $300. It was one of the more bizarre dinners I've ever had. They moved everyone around us away. My closest friend took one too many drunken handslaps to the chest from midgetman and he did what SydneyCarton could not, which was snap the midget into some measure of sobriety and the understanding that he was about to be beaten into a body cast. My payback was to show everyone at work the group photo taken at the table, which I proudly displayed on my desk for the remaining two years I worked with the guy. He was worse than passed out in the photo. 

Wait. Where was I? Oh yeah. Prime. It's fine. I probably go to too many steakhouses (because of business dinners) and need to appreciate them better. When I go with my friends and Sydney in the fall, we're probably doing Bavette's again, which was awesome last fall. 

Went to Le Cirque on Saturday night. I'd be shocked if there's a better restaurant in Las Vegas. Shit that place is great. Had the tasting menu and the wine pairings and they got everything right. Get your money right going in there, though.

Did Giordano's for lunch one day because I don't know when I'll be in Chicago again and I love their pizza. It's every bit as good in LV. 

Planet Hollywood has repeater bets on their craps tables as the bonus. I fucking love that versus the AllSmall/AllTall stuff at MGM casinos, which is fine. If you haven't done that yet, and you're not a fucking accountant about how you play craps, you'll have a blast with it if the table gets hot.

 

I know it's Vegas Planning season when I get tagged in this thread, full well knowing in advance it's this fuckhead telling this story.

Just to be clear, your boy was an ass pretty much when he stepped off the plane. The first night there he was hammered at the blackjack tables and throwing his fucking chips into the table and quoting Rounders about splashing the pot about 50 different times. That was Thursday After steak night he was basically unconscious. You had to berate him Sunday morning to make him apologize like a parent scolding an indifferent child. 

Also, he never touched me at dinner. And I'm not sorry about your wine. 

I know you'd be disappointed if you didn't get some reaction out of me. 

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For Marriott (Bonvoy) rewards people:

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The first ever Delta by Marriott hotel tower is being built off the Las Vegas Strip. It’ll be located near Flamingo Road and Valley View.

The owners of the new property want to appeal to convention goers or tourists who don’t want the full casino gaming experience. The large 24-story non-gaming tower is going up right next to the Palms Hotel and Casino.

The hotel will also have a meeting space approximately, 10,000 feet of it, along with a rooftop bar with restaurants.

It’s expected to open in 2 or 2 1/2 years. 8 News NOW learned the hotel is part of a larger 8.6 acre development project at the corner.

Construction is also underway for a Denny’s and a Del Taco.

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Got back from 3 nights in Vegas earlier this week.  Here's a way too long recap.

Stayed at the Wynn Tower suites.  For a little back story, we've been staying at the Wynn/Encore Towers a few times per year for about the last 10 years.  The last couple trips, the service was starting to slip some and our last trip (June 2018) was a total shit show.  It was so bad that we swore the place off.  I'm sure I wrote about all the details on this thread a year ago, but in a nutshell, they were really feeling the departure of Steve Wynn and their service blew.

Wynn - Service

We decided to give it another chance a year later in hopes they had worked out the kinks.  Had a buddy celebrating his birthday there so it made sense.  The good news is, they seem to have worked through most service issues.  Not quite as perfect from a service standpoint as the good old days, but pretty damn close.  There were a few little things that would have never happened on Steve's watch, but most were fairly negligible.  Lot's of "Welcome back Mr and Mrs Landomatic" and lip prints on our asses, which is nice.  And we never had anyone tell us "no" which was far from the case on our last trip.

Wynn - Property

The bad news is that the Wynn property is starting to have seen its better days.  For the first time ever, it was starting to feel old and in need of a remodel.  It's starting to have that Bellagio feel where you could look around and know that at one time, it used to be amazing, but today, it's just got a layer of dinge.  Public areas like elevators, hallways, etc. and especially our room had a lot of wear and tear.  And the decor, which was so ahead of its time at one time, is starting to feel dated.  The Wynn is 14 years old and I guess that's about the point those places start to feel that way.  They'll limp it along for another 10 just like the Bellagio is, but she sure ain't what she used to be.  On the upside, although we didn't venture over to the Encore side much, when we did, it didn't feel that way yet.  It felt much cleaner and brighter and newer.  It's about 3 years newer so it stands to reason, but it's amazing what just 3 years will do.  I just wish the Encore had more going on, but that's another conversation.

Wynn - Restaurants

Again, they all just feel dated and in need of a total refresh.  Most have been around forever and we've eaten at all of them multiple times.  So, with that being the case, the only real meal we had on property was Cipriani as it's pretty much their only new restaurant.  It was very disappointing.  They have it under their "fine dining" choices and I guess it's priced that way, but nothing about it felt fine dining at all.  The menu was confusing (sushi and Italian), their service was average at best and the decor was schticky.  I guess it was supposed to feel like you were on a fancy yacht but really just felt like you were in the dining hall of a cheap cruise ship.  There wasn't much fancy about it.  Our waiter even greeted us when he first walked up to the table with "welcome aboard" and told us "bon voyage" when we were leaving which felt super cheesy.  And the place was really really dead.  The Wynn added some new shops and that restaurant onto the end of their property and the whole wing was really dead, as if nobody knew it was there.  The food was okay, I guess but I would not recommend this place at all.  If you want Italian on property, although we didn't make it there this trip, I'm guessing Sinatra is still the move.

Wynn - Pool

Went to the Wynn adults only topless pool 3 days in a row and it was damn near perfect all 3 days.  We tried to go to the Encore side once, as we used to like going over there to mix it up a bit.  The Encore adults only pool is no longer topless (not sure when they started that shit) and that side all felt really dead so we just went back to the Wynn side.  It was just the right amount of party without being too douchey (or as someone said upthread, Jersey Shore reunion).  Lots of pretty people without it feeling intimidating...plenty of old fatasses.  And for probably the first time ever at a Euro pool, most of the topless tits were tits that should have been topless.  Great service and met a lot of really cool people.  Pool scene overall was better than it's ever been.

The Palms

We'd been hearing that The Palms is back so we decided to go over there for dinner one night.  They have the two hottest clubs in town (day club and night club) and 2-3 of the hottest restaurants in town right now.  They just finished a $700M remodel and it feels like it.  The place was pretty ridiculous.  Everything felt all shiny and new and over-the-top, but in a tasteful way.  It's definitely a little younger vibe but we are all in our 40's and everyone loved it.  I'd call it the new Cosmo.  Our original plan was to eat at Green Street, but we decided to have a drink at Mr. Coco first and that's when our night took a pleasant detour.  Didn't make it to Green Street...we did end up at Vetri Cucina really late which isn't one of their most popular restaurants, but it was outstanding.  Hard to say how the whole thing would have been without the very special treatment we ended up getting, but overall, The Palms is great.

Piero's

Thanks to @bigup2dahorns for this recommendation.  It was a perfect lower key second night place.  I can't believe we've never been before.  Sat in the bar and although the owner, Fred had already gone home for the night, we had a great time.  Definitely a locals vibe and probably not something your average tourist would be into at all, but I'm pretty sure they're okay with that.  I really enjoyed the "if these walls could talk" feel of the place.  Most of the guys working there have been there forever so it wasn't hard for them to pick up Fred's slack.  Service and food were outstanding and their martinis were perfect and big.  Like really big.  I don't really remember leaving, but I know we had an awesome night.

STK

This is where the birthday boy wanted to go for some reason.  I've been there what feels like a hundred times and was pretty sure it had started slipping the last couple times we went so I wasn't really looking forward to it all that much.  It was actually a very pleasant surprise.  Food was by far the best its ever been.  And all the other stuff (music, crowd, service, social feel) were as good as they've ever been at their peak.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's never been and wants a "big party - nice restaurant - steakhouse" type of night.  I'd say it's still the best in Vegas at doing that kind of night.  If there's anything close, I'm not aware of it.

***

Overall, it was a pretty good trip. Glad to see the Wynn back closer to its old fighting weight.  And nice to try new things and be pleasantly surprised that some of the old things were as good or better than ever.

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4 hours ago, Landomatic said:

STK

This is where the birthday boy wanted to go for some reason.  I've been there what feels like a hundred times and was pretty sure it had started slipping the last couple times we went so I wasn't really looking forward to it all that much.  It was actually a very pleasant surprise.  Food was by far the best its ever been.  And all the other stuff (music, crowd, service, social feel) were as good as they've ever been at their peak.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's never been and wants a "big party - nice restaurant - steakhouse" type of night.  I'd say it's still the best in Vegas at doing that kind of night.  If there's anything close, I'm not aware of it.

 

Another thing STK has going for it is the hottest hostesses in the city.

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For some lulz. 

https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/index.php?threads/hotels-with-lets-just-say-the-thickest-walls.163325/

Quote

I'll try to be delicate. Taking my lady to LV for her birthday in August (her first trip there) and she asked me to not book a hotel with thin walls. I'm not going into details as to why, but for those in the know, which strip hotels are best in the category of not being able to hear your neighboring hotel guests, or more so, them not hearing us?

 

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25 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

What the fuck.

Yeah I know, right.  I’m guessing it has something to do with Jardin being open during the day.  Their patio pretty much overlooks that pool.  Ironically, there were a bunch of kids eating on their patio when we checked it out.  What’s the point of adults only if there’s kids on the adjacent patio and no titties.

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13 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

Just called them and requested they switch my Encore reservation to Wynn.

If she’s anything like my wife, Mrs Wild Turkey’s feet will thank you.  Other than Sinatra, there’s just not shit over on the Encore side.  It’s a little nicer, but between Tableau for breakfast, the Tower Bar, the only adult pool worth a damn, and all the other restaurants, bars and shopping, all of that convenience more than offsets the slightly newer Encore rooms in my opinion.

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14 hours ago, Rhyners said:

At the Cosmo now. Great hotel but Momofuku might be the worst meal I've ever had. Over $60 for two bowls of cold ridiculously spiced garbage. Is this place in business by continuously ripping off new visitors?

There is a PF Chang’s right across the strip. It may be more your speed.

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2 hours ago, LonghornJones said:

^lol

Any recs for good golf near the strip? I don't want to travel more than 15 minutes. Prob gonna uber. I do not mind spending a little more for the convenience, but I'm probably not paying more than $350.

Bali Hai

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On 7/8/2019 at 3:52 PM, Rhyners said:

At the Cosmo now. Great hotel but Momofuku might be the worst meal I've ever had. Over $60 for two bowls of cold ridiculously spiced garbage. Is this place in business by continuously ripping off new visitors?

You're doing it wrong.  Momofuku is out-fucking-standing.  

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3 hours ago, Armybrat said:

There is the Wynn golf course if you feel like paying $500+ green fee as a non-guest.

 

That course closed at the end of 2017 and is being rebuilt right now. They ripped up some of the course to make way for a massive $3 billion project called Wynn Paradise Park (lagoon with white sand beach and water skiing, paddle boarding and parasailing). The company scrapped the park idea and hired Tom Fazio to rebuild the golf course and it's re-opening on October 11. 

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On 7/9/2019 at 7:47 AM, Brew said:

There is a PF Chang’s right across the strip. It may be more your speed.

Well that's a stupid thing to say to a professional chef. 

But hey, if you want cold horribly spiced garbage for premium prices to make yourself feel special like a little princess then you be you. 

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2 hours ago, Rhyners said:

Well that's a stupid thing to say to a professional chef. 

But hey, if you want cold horribly spiced garbage for premium prices to make yourself feel special like a little princess then you be you. 

Being a chef doesn't mean you have good taste.

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